Boat anchor

ABSTRACT

A boat anchor having anchor type prongs which fold along a center member and upon a tug of a rope can be released and will spread out to form a hook type anchor that will hold onto the bottom of the lake, or other object.

Erliichmann [451 an. 8, W72

[54] UAT ANCHOR [72] Inventor: Merlin W. Ehrlichmann, Minnetonka,

Minn.

[73] Assignee: West Creek (10., llnc., Minnetonka, Minn.

[22] Filed: Apr. 15, 1970 21 Appl. No.2 28,569

[52] 11.8. CI. ..ll4/208 A [51] lint. Cl ..B63b 21/44 [58] Fleld 011 Search ..114/208 A, 208 R, 207, 206 R,

114/206 A, 221, 209; 294/8628, 86.32, 100, 99 R, 99 S, 86.1, 9, 97, 86, 86.14, 86.17, 86.18, 86.2-86.22; 52/155, 160, 162-164, 166; 43/36, 37,

640,360 l/ l 900 McBride 1,553,991 9/1925 Davison et al. .....294/86.17

2,707,929 5/1955 Kemp et al ....1 14/208 A 2,902,969 9/1959 Mallison ..294/86 R X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 81,085 12/1952 Norway ..1 14/208 A Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-F. K. Yee Attorney-Bugger, Peterson, Johnson & Westman [57] ABSTRACT A boat anchor having anchor type prongs which fold along a center member and upon a tug of a rope can be released and will spread out to form a hook type anchor that will hold onto the bottom of the lake, or other object.

, 7 chflms, 5 Wm Figures /2 y T 26 25' I /6 28 1 m t P ow /7 ,122 1T1 z /g l 1.4. E nmlllilil l gi T a E BOATANCHOIR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to collapsible boat anchors.

2. Prior Art Various collapsible boat anchors have been advanced in the art, but usually the releasability of the anchors is unpredictable, the units are quite expensive to make, and they are rather bulky because of the complex actuating mechanism.

In the prior art, the U.S. Pat. No. 3,123,038 to Tytz shows a collapsible boat anchor with a coil spring utilized for holding the anchor prongs in place. The US. Pat. No. 2,540,867 to Douglas, also shows a collapsible anchor that has prongs releasably retained in an anchoring position, but in this device an extension of a mounting tube is used for holding them in collapsed position.

Another type of collapsible anchor is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 2,674,970 to Andrews. Spring tension is utilized to retain a latch member in position, in these devices, but the spring tension does not act directly on the prongs themselves, and coil springs are required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a boat anchor or grapple hook that will collapse into a small package for storage and for throwing and will, upon tugging a rope, automatically expand into a prong type anchor for positively holding a boat, or for use as a grapple.

The structure has unique type mountings of the prongs or arms of the anchor, so that a spring utilized for opening the anchor acts directly on the prongs, and the prongs themselves are securely retained in closed position when they are folded. A unit is easy to make, and foolproof in operation. The actuating spring does not have to be metal, so there is no problem with rust or corrosion interfering with operation of the spring. A relatively inexpensive elastomeric member can be utilized for a spring.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an end view of a boat anchor made according to the present invention with parts in section;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken as on line 3-3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary end elevational view of the device of FIG. 3 shown in expanded condition; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken as on line 5-5 in FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A boat anchor illustrated generally at comprises an elongated mounting rod 11. The rod 11 can be a tubular member or a solid rod as shown, and if desired could be mounted on the end of a longer pole so that the entire anchor assembly 10 can be utilized as a poling device when it is in its folded condition as shown in FIG. 2, and in solid lines in FIG. 3. The poling device can be used for poling a boat through shallow water for example.

At the lower or base end of the rod 11, an anchor prong mounting assembly illustrated generally at 12 is attached to the rod 11. This includes a base wall member 13 which extends at right angles to the axis of the rod 11, and is provided with a plurality of spaced radially extending slots 14. On opposite sides of each of the slots there are spaced apart pairs of ears 15 that are fixed to a surface of wall 13. Between the ears of each pair an anchor prong or arm 16 is pivotally mounted with a pin 17.

Each of the prongs I6 extend through its aligning slot 14, and is pivotally mounted so that it will move from a position wherein it is substantially parallel and adjacent the rod 11 (it can be seen that the pins are spaced outwardly from the rod slightly) to an open position wherein each arm moves about its pin 17 outwardly until it engages the outer edge of a cap member 20 that is mounted with a suitable screw 21 to a threaded housing 22 formed in an end portion of rod 11.

As shown, there are six of the prongs or arms 16 evenly spaced around the axis of the rod 11. The base ends of the prongs 16 extend into the housing formed by the cover 20 and as shown each arm is provided with a notch 23 on the outer edge thereof. The notches 23 on the arms 16 annularly align. A resilient member forming a bias means 24 is mounted in the notches, and is, as shown, elastic so that it will be exerting a force tending to rotate the distal or outer end portions 25 of the prongs 16 about the axis of the pin 17 in outwardly direction. The elastic member 24 can be a conventional 0" ring or some other elastomeric member that will exert a sufficient resilient force to urge the prongs 16 in direction as indicated by the arrows 26.

In folded condition, the outer end portions 25 of the prongs 16 are held adjacent the rod II with a retainer cap 27 that has a hub 28 slidably mounted onto the rod 11 and movable in axial direction on the rod. A control rope 30 comes through a guide eyelet 31 at the end of the rod and is attached as at 32 to the retainer cap 27 so that the cap can be pulled along the rod with this rope. In folded condition the distal ends of the prongs are brought in adjacent the rod 11, and the retainer cap is slipped over the end portions 25 so that the skirt 32 of the cap keeps the prongs 16 from moving outwardly in direction indicated by the arrows 26. However, when the anchor is to be used, the rope 30 is pulled, moving the retainer cap 27 toward the eyelet 31 to position as shown generally in FIG. 5 and also in dotted lines in FIG. 3.

The elastomeric member 24 will then exert a moment on the prongs l6 forcing these prongs outwardly in direction as indicated by the arrows 26 until the outer edges of the prongs rest against the lower edge of the cap 20, as shown in FIG. 5. In this position, there will be six prongs equally spaced extending at oblique angles with respect to the axis of the rod 11 and the ends of the prongs 25 will act to engage the bottom of a lake, or will catch on rocks, or tree roots or the like. The unit can be used as a simple grapple if desired.

When the anchor is no longer to be used, it is merely grasped, the prongs 16 are folded back toward the rod 11, and the retainer cap is slid over the end portion 25 to securely hold these prongs in their folded condition. The prongs themselves are urged outwardly against the inner periphery of the skirt 32 of the cap 27 so that the friction against the outer edges of the prongs and the inner surface of the skirt tends to hold the cap 27 in place along the rod 1 1. Of course the unit can be thrown in its folded condition, which makes it easy to grasp and to throw. After throwing the anchor out a pull or tug given on the rope 30 actuates the anchor. The anchor will not be operated until desired but when actuated the prongs dig in and really hold.

Even when the prongs are in its fully expanded condition shown in FIG. 5, the elastomeric ring or bias means 24 exert sufficient force to hold the prongs out against the lower edge of the cover member 20 which is attached to the unit. The folded unit is compact for storage or easy carrying in a boat or automobile.

The angle of the prongs with respect to the axis of the rod 11, and therefore, the direction of pull force, is selected so that when the rope 30 is pulled, the prongs tend to dig in deeper rather than slide on the lake bottom, or tend to pull out. The harder the pull, the more it digs in.

The included angle between the prongs and the axis of rod 11 is greater than 45 and less than 70. An angle between 50 and 60 is the most desirable.

I claim:

I. An anchor device including an elongated mounting member having a longitudinal axis, a plurality of anchor prongs, means to pivotally mount said anchor prongs in position annularly spaced around said elongated mounting member, said prongs being movable about their pivots from a position wherein distal ends thereof are adjacent said elongated member to a position wherein said distal ends are spaced substantially from said elongated member, proximate end portions of said prongs extending in the opposite side of their pivot axes from said distal ends, annular bias means mounted around the proximate end portions and acting directly on each of said proximate end portions to exert a resilient force inwardly toward said longitudinal axis tending to move said distal ends outwardly away from said elongated member, and releasable means to retain said distal ends adjacent said elongated member against the action of said bias means.

2. The combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said bias means comprises an elastomeric annular band means, and notch means on each of the proximate end portions of said prongs, said notch means retaining said annular band means in position.

3. The combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said means to mount said prongs comprises a plate type member, a plurality of radially extending slots in said plate member, each of said prongs being mounted through one of said slots, the pivotal mounting of said prongs being on an opposite side of said plate member from the distal ends of said prongs, and stop means at the outer end of said slots to engage the prongs when the distal ends thereof move to a desired position spaced from said elongated mounting member.

4. The combination as specified in claim 3 wherein said stop means comprises a cover member mounted with respect to said mounting member, said cover member comprising an annular skirt enclosing the elastomeric member and the end portions of said prongs on the opposite side of said mounting plate from said distal ends of said prongs.

5. The combination as specified in claim 3 wherein said prongs engage said stop means when the included angle between the prongs and the mounting member is greater than 45 and less than 70.

6. The combination as specified in claim 3 wherein said prongs engage said stop means when the included angle between the prongs and the mounting member is between 50 and 60.

7. The combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said releasable retainer means comprises a collar slidably mounted on said elongated member, said collar having a skirt spaced from said elongated mounting member a sufiicient distance to permit the distal ends of said prongs to be surrounded by said skirt, and said collar being movable to position along said elongated member to position spaced from the distal ends of said prongs. 

1. An anchor device including an elongated mounting member having a longitudinal axis, a plurality of anchor prongs, means to pivotally mount said anchor prongs in position annularly spaced around said elongated mounting member, said prongs being movable about their pivots from a position wherein distal ends thereof are adjacent said elongated member to a position wherein said distal ends are spaced substantially from said elongated member, proximate end portions of said prongs extending in the opposite side of their pivot axes from said distal ends, annular bias means mounted around the proximate end portions and acting directly on each of said proximate end portions to exert a resilient force inwardly toward said longitudinal axis tending to move said distal ends outwardly away from said elongated member, and releasable means to retain said distal ends adjacent said elongated member against the action of said bias means.
 2. The combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said bias means comprises an elastomeric annular band means, and notch means on each of the proximate end portions of said prongs, said notch means retaining said annular band means in position.
 3. The combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said means to mount said prongs comprises a plate type member, a plurality of radially extending slots in said plate member, each of said prongs being mounted through one of said slots, the pivotal mounting of said prongs being on an opposite side of said plate member from the distal ends of said prongs, and stop means at the outer end of said slots to engage the prongs when the distal ends thereof move to a desired position spaced from said elongated mounting member.
 4. The combination as specified in claim 3 wherein said stop means comprises a cover member mounted with respect to said mounting member, said cover member comprising an annular skirt enclosing the elastomeric member and the end portions of said prongs on the opposite side of said mounting plate from said distal ends of said prongs.
 5. The combination as specified in claim 3 wherein said prongs engage said stop means when the included angle between the prongs and the mounting member is greater than 45* and less than 70*.
 6. The combination as specified in claim 3 wherein said prongs engage said stop means when the included angle between the prongs and the mounting member is between 50* and 60*.
 7. The combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said releasable retainer means comprises a collar slidably mounted on said elongated member, said collar having a skirt spaced from said elongated mounting member a sufficient distance to permit the distal ends of said prongs to be surrounded by said skirt, and said collar being movable to position along said elongated member to position spaced from the distal ends of said prongs. 